Prince William Embarks on Cultural Tour of China

2015-03-02  Source: Chinaculture.org

Britain's Prince William arrives in Beijing, capital of China, for his first-ever visit to China, March 1, 2015. He will have a four-day tour in China.

The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, began his visit to China on Sunday at the invitation of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA). The Duke’s visit marks the highest profile royal visit to China since 1986, when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip travelled to the country.

On the 2nd of March, Prince William started the tour by visiting the Shijia Hutong Museum in Beijing. Hutong are alleys that connect low-rise courtyard houses. The museum is in the courtyard house restored by the Prince of Wales's China Foundation and The Prince's Foundation for Building Communities. Later in the day, Prince William paid a visit to the Forbidden City and met the President Xi Jinping in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People and extended Queen’s invitation for Xi to visit the UK.

According to the schedule, Prince William will travel to Shanghai where a campaign will be held in the Long Museum to showcase British creativity and innovation in entertainment, design, healthcare and fashion, which is one of the activities under the theme of 2015 UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange. He will encourage partnerships with Chinese businesses and attend the Chinese premiere of the British children's animated movie, Paddington. According to Buckingham Palace, over 500 British enterprises will benefit from potential cooperation with China. 

 Britain's Prince William (1st R) visits the Shijia Hutong Museum in Beijing, capital of China, March 2, 2015.

The final stop of his trip is Xishuangbanna in Southwest China's Yunnan province where he will visit an elephant rehabilitation center and a nature reserve. According to Buckingham Palace, the prince will participate in a campaign calling for the protection of wildlife and the banning of illegal trade in wildlife.

In recent years, with the popularity of British TV series like Sherlock Holmes and Downton Abbey, millions of Chinese have been captivated by British culture and the number of Chinese travelers to the UK is on the rise.

Due to China’s rising influence, the British have also come to better understand Chinese traditions and culture. During the Spring Festival, Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall paid a visit to Chinatown in London, addressing a New Year speech to overseas Chinese, and over 200 guests were invited to the residence of the Prime Minister to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Ahead of the visit to China, Prince William released a video message to send his good wishes for Chinese New Year in mandarin: "Zhu ni men chun jie kuai le, yang nian da ji (I wish you a happy Chinese New Year and good luck in the Year of the Sheep)." The video became a hit overnight, and received thousands of likes on Sina Weibo (The Chinese Twitter-like service). 

Chen Mingming, former Chinese ambassador to Sweden, said that the Prince’s visit to China marks a boost to the China-UK friendship. The visit to China conveys London’s sincerity in building long-term friendship with China through cultural communication. Prime Minister Cameron also mentioned in his New Year speech that the year of sheep will see more cultural exchanges between the two countries.

During Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to the UK in 2014, the two sides released a joint statement on the decision to build a strategic partnership. Since then, this decade has witnessed a warming in Sino-British relations. Experts noted that fortifying the cultural cooperation between the two countries will also promote China-EU relations in the future. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Britain's Prince William at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 2, 2015.